Indians Rally for Split at No. 2 East Central

DECATUR, Miss. - The Indians split a doubleheader at No. 2 East Central, falling 12-10 in Game 1 before winning Game 2 8-5.

Game 2: Indians 8, No. 2 East Central 5

ICC scored first in the second when Tre Gunn lifted a sacrifice fly to left to bring home Cannon Graham.

East Central tied the game in the bottom of the inning on a solo home run, but ICC went back in front in the third. Reid Kent scored on Will Caviness' single to left to make it 2-1.

The Warriors tied the game again in the third on a sacrifice fly and took a 3-2 lead in the fourth on an RBI single.

ICC answered in the fifth when Caviness lined an 0-2 single to center to score Madden Butler and tie the game at 3-3.

The Indians took control in the sixth. Butler singled home Brody Thompson to give ICC a 4-3 lead. Kent then scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-3. Butler scored on a passed ball, Graham scored on another passed ball and Gunn doubled to left to drive in Caviness as ICC stretched the lead to 8-3.

East Central scored twice in the seventh, but ICC closed it out.

Solomon Smith earned the win after allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits in six innings. He struck out four and did not walk a batter. Andrew Williams got the save after allowing two runs, one earned, on one hit and two walks in one inning.

"We kind of learned from that and we had our big inning late because we were patient enough to let the game happen," ICC head coach Slater Lott said. "Solomon was outstanding in Game 2. That's a really tough offense we faced and he held them to three runs over six innings, including keeping himself ready during the delay. It was just a tremendous effort out of him and I'm proud of his growth this season."

Game 1: No. 2 East Central 12, Indians 10

East Central took a 2-0 lead in the first on a two-run home run.

ICC answered in the second when Gunn hit a two-run home run to left to tie the game at 2-2.

The Warriors moved back in front on solo home runs in the second and third and built the lead to 9-3 through six innings.

ICC scored in the fourth when Brody Thompson singled home Tyler Pickens.

The Indians made a push in the seventh. Butler hit a solo home run to right. Pickens followed with a two-run double to left to score Graham and Caviness. Gunn later scored on a dropped third strike to cut the lead to 9-7.

East Central answered with three runs and led 12-7 going to the ninth.

ICC scored three more in the ninth. Caviness opened the inning with a solo home run to left. Daniel Whitfield later singled home a run and Kent drove in another with a groundout, but ICC could not get even.

The Indians finished with 17 hits in the loss.

"I'm super proud of the way our guys competed all day," Lott said. "Our bullpen did a really good job in Game 1 of keeping it close throughout."

"I'm kind of frustrated in myself in Game 1," Lott said. "I thought our offense did enough to win the game but I was a little too aggressive at times and it cost us several runs. We had five guys reach base and scored no runs in an inning. I was trying to force the issue instead of letting the game happen."

ICC returns home Wednesday to host Holmes on Sophomore Day.

"We are excited to honor our sophomores on Wednesday as we host Holmes," Lott said. "We look forward to continuing a really tough stretch of our season by playing quality baseball."